Grazing Giraffe Taken at Longleat Safari Park, UK by Alan Hern

1. Woburn Abbey Deer Park

Many different types of deer live together at this deer park, including the shy and retiring Musa deer, the Sika, Axis, Chital Deer, and Barasingha. Muntjac and Chinese Water Deer are more aloof and you may see these miniature friends hoofing around solo. The 11th Duke of Bedford founded the Deer Park as he wished to preserve many species on his estate. Today you can visit the 3,000 acre estate and see the deer on foot as you roam through.

2. Otters! Nationwide…except Kent

Otters are now back in healthy numbers after spending the last decade on the brink of extinction. There’s only one place you can’t see an otter in the wild: Kent! Thanks to the work of bodies like the Sussex Wildlife Trust, otter numbers have returned to healthy levels in most of the country.

3. Golden Eagle, Scottish Highlands

Golden eagles are not a common sight in the UK but there are a couple of places you can see them. This massive and impressive bird of prey traditionally homes in the open moorlands and wild mountains of Scotland. Eagles are incredibly loyal to their traditional nesting sites and don’t like to have their territories or routines disturbed. Consequently, it’s hard to conserve eagles without the right habitat.

4. Dragonflies and damselflies

Dungeness RSPB Reserve is a great place to see British birds and of course, beautiful jewel-like dragonflies. Dungeness is made up of miles of shingle, particularly across the beach area. Altogether there are 40 species of dragon and damselflies in the UK. The sound of a dragonfly buzzing over a pond is one of the most familiar sounds of British summertime.

5. Longleat Safari Park

See all of nature’s charismatic megafauna at this famous and much loved wildlife park in the South West of England (between Bristol, Glastonbury and Southampton). You can see giraffes, lions, elephants and cheetahs all gambolling around the grounds of Longleat manor. Longleat is an 18th century house in 900 acres of manicured parklands, providing a grand setting for corporate events and weddings.

Be careful when out trekking in the UK. Although we have adders and vipers (venomous snakes native to the UK) , we don’t have anything too dangerous lurking in our wilds. That will take care of those clinical negligence claims you’re thinking about filing when you’re flailing about in A&E).

Remember to plan ahead if you’re going somewhere remote and bring a fully charged camera with you, or a notepad, or whatever you use to collect your data or make memories!

Doreen Cruise loves nature conservation and social media – sometimes together!

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Joshua Lock

Although hiking in Wales is irrefutably gratifying, this spellbinding country has lots of attractions, activities and sights to satisfy the yearnings of all its visitors, regardless of age or taste. If you are fortunate enough to be heading off to Wales sometime soon, then you may be interested in reading about some of the top places to visit in this mesmerising nation.

Welsh Hawking Centre and Animal Park

Situated in the town of Barry in South Wales is the Welsh Hawking Centre and Animal Park. This animal centre looks after 200 birds of prey species and includes falcons, buzzards, Hawks, owls and eagles. There are also many other small animals to see, including new born chicks, ducks, rabbits and geese.

National Waterfront Museum

Swansea’s National Waterfront Museum is also a great attraction. With artefacts dating back some 300 years, this fascinating Welsh museum paints a unique picture of Wales’ vast industrial and maritime heritage. Displaying an interesting combination of innovative and interactive technology, with traditional displays, Swansea’s National Waterfront Museum offers a captivating visitor experience.

Anglesey Sea Zoo

Zoom off to the north to Anglesey, where a spectacular coast, winding lanes and friendly hospitality means you can truly relax and indulge in the Welsh way of life. From witnessing submarine wolves, to spotting some amazing invertebrates and taking a peek at the ‘No Bone Zone’, it is easy to understand why Anglesey Sea Zoo is one of Wales’ leading tourist attractions.

You can also get inside the Seven Sisters Shipwreck, walk through shark pool grids and muse past the centre’s Kelp Forrest. This is full of gigantic fish and overall Anglesey Sea Zoo is home to an incredible 150 species of marine life.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Pete

Caerphilly Castle

You cannot go far in Wales before you see some sort of castle dominating the landscape and one of the country’s most imposing and exciting castles has to be Caerphilly Castle. This majestically grand castle is an outstanding verification to Wales’ turbulent medieval times and an ideal tourist attraction.

Touring through Wales in a caravan can be a great way to discover some of these fascinating attractions and, being a ‘caravanning paradise’ you are never too far away from a one of the many caravan sites in Wales.

The following travel information is brought to you by Caravan Club. Caravan Club are dedicated to providing caravan enthusiasts with comprehensive information on caravan parks throughout the UK, including many great caravan sites in Wales. They also provide advice for all aspects of caravanning.

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The Butterfly House is the perfect imitation of their natural environment, so they lay eggs here, pupate and turn into caterpillars and eventually became colored beauties, whose wings range can be in some cases up to 30 centimetres.

Butterfly House was built several years ago and now, on 280 m2, it is a home to about four hundred butterflies, that come from special farms in Thailand, Belize, Costa Rica or the Philippines.

Visitors can observe the entire butterfly life cycle. Information boards explaining what they eat, how they develop, or how long they live. The Butterfly House is suitable for both small kids and adults.

Practical Info

The Butterfly House is located in the heart of Vienna’s emperor’s private gardens, about 200 meters from the Vienna Opera. It is open all year round and the basic admission is €5,50. Parking is available at the Opera House.

For more information visit Official site of Butterfly House.

You may need to browse through some Vienna hotels if you would like to stay here and visit other great attractions in Vienna as well, as it is not possible to see all of them in one day.

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Zoo Karlsruhe was founded in 1865 and now have more than 1000 animals representing 150 species. There are about 800 trees and more than 15,000 roses (300 different species).

Zoo Karlsruhe is thematically divided into 10 main sections:

• Water exposure (polar bears, penguins and seals)
• The African savanna (giraffes, zebras, antelopes, ostriches)
• Owl aviary
• Wild cats
• Pachydermata
• Australian animals
• Exposure to South America
• The world of birds
• Children’s Zoo

Among the most popular animals are polar bears. The first descendant of this representative of Arctic fauna was born in the zoo already in 1889. Your attention should be given also to penguins, Chinese leopards, emus, kangaroos, meerkats and giant tortoises. It is worth to see also a House of monkeys, with more than 30 species of primates.

Zoo Karlsruhe is open all year but the opening hours change frequently, so it is better to visit Official site of Zoo Karlsruhe before your visit. Basic whole-day ticket costs €5,50.

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Zoo and Safari Park is located in the town Dvůr Králové in the northern part of the Czech Republic.

Take your kids, your family or friends and go to see the largest exhibition of African animals in Europe. The whole area of ​​the Zoo is quite extensive, offering the tour by a sightseeing train, or you can make it on foot or even by your own car. The site has been created especially for children and therefore everything is adjusted to them.

Here you can visit the various pavilions and exhibitions:

• Hall of beasts
• Tropical swamp
• Bird world
• Dinosaur World
• The Flamingo House
• Water World
• The African Savannah
• The Pygmy Hippo House
• The Okapi House
• The Lion Tamarin House
• The Primate House
• The Meerkat House
• The Lion House

The most favourite pavilions are those with lions, monkeys and hippos.

If you want to experience more, Zoo Dvůr Králové offers many adventure programs:

African safari: a great ride through African nature – you are close to herds of antelopes, zebras, giraffes and wildebeest, as well as lions and cheetahs. The ride takes approximately 20 minutes. African safari is available from May until September.

Offroad safari and night safari, safaris for small groups (max 12 pax) during the day or night.

Attendant at the Zoo – you can become a nurse for one day and see what is it about to take care of animals. You will find it’s not just a job, but also a happiness to take care of pets. You will go through a backstage of Zoo, know daily rhythm of animals and maybe fulfil your dreams.

Zoo backstage: interesting guided walk through the best and most interesting corners of zoo.

Wedding in the Zoo: there is an option to choose an interesting, unusual and remarkable place for your wedding. Just few people can say that had witness like zebra or a hippopotamus. Enjoy your Wedding ceremony in a zoo and celebration in a banquet room at the Cheetah.

Hour Gardening: Learn how to care for plants and a beautiful park of the zoo.

The ZOO is opened daily and basic admission to both ZOO and Safari is €11. For further details see the official site of Zoo Dvůr Králové.

Accommodation in Zoo Dvůr Králové

Hotel Safari
Have you ever slept within earshot of the African wilderness? Try three-star Safari Hotel which is located directly in the Zoo Dvůr Králové.
https://www.hotelsafari.cz/

Safari Camp
Try luxury accommodation in bungalows or your own tents among African animals.
https://www.safarikemp.cz/

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You can see about 40 species of fish with a total number of more than 500. Enjoy a walk through an underwater tunnel and rainforest. If you are tired you can rest at Piranha Cafe – where you can freshen up while observing predatory piranhas. There is also available a family sport area with a ricochet court, sauna and gym, which offers active relaxation in privacy with your family.

In Giant Aquarium you have a unique opportunity to see tropical nature of South and Central America. In the first part of the tour, called AVE NATURA, you can see the exhibition which currently consists of a unique collection of skulls of exotic fish.

In the second part of the tour you get to the tropical rainforest, where you can learn what it means to stay in the tropics – a combination of heat and 85-90% humidity. Here you can admire the beauty of plants such as orchids, Bromelia or Tillandsia in amazing shapes and color diversity and in more than 150 species and varieties. The impression is enhanced by occasional tropical rain and artificial fog.

After passing through the forest you get to the bottom of freshwater tropical ponds with the fish community of South and Central America. Besides the fish that you can know from your home aquarium, you will find real rarities here. The most species belong to the family Cichlidae. You can see here a big, up to 90 cm long fish of the Colossoma Serrasalmidae weighing up to 23 Kg.

The total volume of the exhibition tank is 130 000 liters of water, which means the mass of 130 tons and for your idea it is a weight of about 40 elephant females. The aquarium is 5 meters long and 8 meters wide. The great view from the bottom of the pool is allowed by the tunnel of acrylic glass with a thickness of 6.5 cm, specially imported far from Japan.

Every Thursday afternoon you can see the unique fish feeding with divers in the tank.

The Giant Aquarium is open all year round (except of Mondays) from 9:00 to 18:00 and the basic admission is 120CZK (€5).

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At the area of ​​240,000 square meters you will find more than 750 species of birds from all continents. Visitors have the opportunity to see a unique show of birds of prey or to feed the tame birds out of hand. The reservation owns the largest collection of parrots (more than 200 species), including the rarest ones. Rare species of birds fly without any restrictions above the heads of visitors.

But Weltvogelpark Walsrode is not about the birds only, you will find there also great gardens.

Next to Weltvogelpark Walsrode there is a huge parking space available also for the caravans and mobile homes. Basic admission fee is €16, but you can get there also for free at the day of your birthday. Weltvogelpark Walsrode is open daily from 18 March to 1 November 2011 from 09.00 am to 19.00 pm.

For further information visit the official website of Weltvogelpark Walsrode

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The local animal park was founded in 1752 by Emperor Francis Stephen of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresa, in order to invite his noble guests, and simply to show them what his summer residence Schönbrunn could offer. Since those times a lot of time have passed so today’s zoo elegantly combines baroque menagerie with the most modern pavilions for animals. From historical events could be mentioned that in 1906 the first elephant in captivity was born here, which was a rarity as it was previously considered impossible.

The staff in Zoo Schönbrunn do their best to get customer satisfied and Zoo offers even night tours with a guide and a night vision device. Such kind of visit you have to book in advance and the maximum number of participants is 20 persons.

The Day Pass costs €14 for adult, but there are discounts for children, family, and Year Pass.

Zoo Schönbrunn is one of the best and most modern in the world. Visiting it either in day or night means you take a lot of experiences, impressions and knowledge.

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Marineland is a specific marine zoo with a variety of water attractions. You can see the wonderful performances of trained smart dolphins, sea lions and parrots. Marineland occupies an area of 4.5 hectares. You can also learn about the life and biology of these fantastic animals, here. During the presentation you will learn about the negative impact of human activities on natural habitat. There are zoological garden and an outdoor water park, where are several types of slides, including kamikaze slides, twister or boomerang, or even special water attractions for children.

Marineland is easily accessible by a special bus (blue bus with Marineland mark) from the resorts of Calella, Pineda de Mar, Santa Susanna and Malgrat de Mar. If you purchase tickets in advance, you will take the bus even for free. Marineland is open daily from 10 May till 17th September. Admission is 24 euros for adults and 17 euros for children (4-12 years). Children under 4 years are admitted free.

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The animals here live in very nice pavilions and it is really amazing how much space they have available. The pride of the ZOO is a newly built Indonesian jungle pavilion, tiger and predators pavilions, and a house of African gorillas. Very interesting exhibitions are also an aviary for birds of prey, pavilion of big mammals, the giraffe area and polar bears pavilion.

But the Prague Zoo is probably mainly proud of a unique breed of rare Przewalski’s horses. The main task of zoos is to protect species and help in their reproduction and Prague Zoo is involved in the reintroduction of Przewalski’s horses. Przewalski’s Horse lives in the wild only in Mongolia, and even there it was last observed during the scientific expedition sometimes in the 50′s of the 20th century.

Natural evolution

During its existence, the Prague Zoo has undergone many changes and has made great development. In its opening in 1931 Zoo had about 300 animals and was spread on an area of ​​only 8 hectares. It gradually expanded, but still retains the quality.

Prague Zoo was very affected by floods in 2002. A large number of animals were killed and many buildings were damaged. After the floods, ZOO has undergone extensive refurbishment and now it is a very modern and popular zoo. The symbol of those floods is a sea lion Guston, who in 2002 got into the river and was caught up in Dresden, Germany. Unfortunately the seal lion died on its way back to ZOO.

During the reconstruction of the Prague Zoo, several interesting and unique buildings were built here. These include also the most expensive pavilion in the history of the Czech Zoos – Indonesian jungle. The pavilion was opened in 2004 instead of 50-year-old monkey pavilion. The pavilion has an elliptical shape of the greenhouse, which creates the impression of the jungle. Inside, visitors can see the orangutans, gibbons or lizards.

Other interesting sites in the Prague Zoo include complex of monkey islands, children’s zoo (where kids may even feed the animals), African pavilion and lots of other new pavilions. Prague Zoo is growing rapidly, so in the near future we can look forward to another interesting enclosures and pavilions.

How to get there

Prague Zoo is one of the places where you can spend pleasant moments with your children. You can come here by your own car, or you can take a bus from the subway station Holešovice. A pleasant experience can be already a trip to the zoo by a ferry across Prague.

For more information, visit official website of Prague Zoo.

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